


Know Thyself

by Sineala



Category: Avengers (Comics), Marvel (Comics), Marvel 616
Genre: First Meetings, Identity Reveal, Infinity Warps (Marvel), Infinity Wars (Marvel), Kissing, M/M, Magic, Stony Bingo, Truth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-26 20:16:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17148413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sineala/pseuds/Sineala
Summary: Stephen Rogers, Soldier Supreme, and Sigurd Stark, the Iron Hammer, are rather more than they were meant to be. But even in such a strange place as Warp World, these two heroes find each other, and several important truths are revealed.





	Know Thyself

**Author's Note:**

> A short canonical orientation for those of you who may have given the Infinity Wars event a miss: Gamora kills Thanos and acquires the Infinity Gems, and what she does to stop the heroes who are opposing her is shove the heroes all inside Soul World, the world within the Soul Gem. Within Soul World she makes a universe called Warp World, in which every character (with a few exceptions) is a pasted-together version of two other characters. For example, Arachknight is Spider-Man plus Moon Knight, Ghost Panther is Ghost Rider plus Black Panther, and Weapon Hex is X-23 plus the Scarlet Witch. You can read about all these people in their own Infinity Warps miniseries, which give you their origin stories.
> 
> Relevantly, for our purposes, the Soldier Supreme, Stephen Rogers, is a combination of Steve Rogers and Stephen Strange. The Iron Hammer, who is either Sigurd Stark or Stark Odinson depending on how divine he is on any given day, is a combination of Tony Stark and Thor. If you're interested in their origin stories, you should read their miniseries; they're a lot of fun.
> 
> I actually wrote this before Infinity Wars #6 came out. So it turns out that the Avengers are actually called the Defenders and they do not, in fact, form up at all like this and they don't seem to have met before the main timeline of Infinity Wars. (I wrote this based on one of the Infinity Warps tie-ins in which they were the Avengers and they were already together, so Marvel contradicted itself first.) I'm declaring this an AU. Whatever. Marvel brought Phyla-Vell and Moondragon back to life for this, so I'm happy.
> 
> Thanks to Kiyaar for beta! Also thank you to Lysimache for the title.
> 
> For Cap-IM Bingo, the square: "canon: What If...?, Battleworlds, or other canonical short AUs."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Captain." Sigurd Stark's eyes were shining. "You're a great hero of mine."

Stephen took the offered seat, and the offered mug of coffee, and he leaned back and waited to see what lie his host would spin. For it was certain that whatever Stark was going to say about himself would not be the truth; Stephen had known that much as soon as he'd laid eyes upon him.

"Welcome to Avengers Mansion," Stark continued. "I must admit, Captain, I was very surprised when you returned my call. And even more surprised when you insisted on visiting immediately."

When he'd heard the message -- Stark's precise voice, cultured, ever so slightly accented, saying _I'm extending an invitation on behalf of the Avengers, who would like to know if you're interested in membership_ \-- half of him had wanted to decline, to say that he worked best alone. And the other half knew that the Avengers were just where he needed to be.

The most interesting thing about Stephen's life these days was that he knew which half of him had which opinion, and he knew exactly why.

Settling his robes around him. Stephen hummed in agreement and sipped his coffee. "The art of magic is often a lonely one, Mr. Stark." _As you should know._ "But sometimes even the Soldier Supreme cannot predict what will be required of him."

Stark smiled at him, a flash of teeth in a sunshine-bright face, a showman's smile. He was a man accustomed to impressing a crowd; Stephen could tell that much from looking at him, and he still could have even if he hadn't seen his face on the front page of the newspaper more days than not, in this odd and disquieting future. Stark wore a three-piece suit, cut slim, flattering his body. You'd never know, to look at him, what he was wearing underneath. The glamour was quite good.

He didn't know he'd been made. Oblivious, he tucked one blond braid behind his ear.

He was an extraordinarily handsome man. Stephen let the thought pass through his mind and filed it away. It wasn't the time. And besides, Stark wasn't precisely a man. Stephen knew better than to tangle with immortals. He hoped he did, anyway.

Stark smiled at him again, an even brighter smile -- this one with some interest, perhaps. Damn him, but he was hard to resist.

It was strange that Stark hadn't healed the limp, though; it had been impossible to miss as he'd entered the room, dragging one leg behind him. Perhaps there was more going on here than Stephen knew.

"I was so glad to hear of your return from the Dark Dimension," Stark said. And then he glanced to the side. "I'm afraid that you've caught us all by surprise, though. The Avengers aren't here right now. And of course you'll want to talk to them." His fingers worried at his suit cuffs. "If you give me a minute, I can have my bodyguard summoned--"

Ah, that was the story. That was the lie. Stark wasn't the Iron Hammer. The Iron Hammer was merely his bodyguard.

And Stephen might have even believed it, had the Eye of Agamodin not hung around his neck. Stephen could see the truth. Stark was soaked in magic, redolent with it, glowing so fiercely, so beautifully, that Stephen almost couldn't look at him. He was the heart of a star, the flame at the center of a forge.

_I can see you with your own father's Eye_ , Stephen thought. _Do you think I don't know who you really are?_

Stark was already rising to his feet, lurching unevenly as he reached for his cane, obviously anxious to get out of here, to talk to Stephen with the right mask on.

It wasn't that Stephen didn't understand secrets, or why a man like Stark would want to keep them. Stephen had served in a war, after all. It was just that he'd never much liked secrets, especially from his comrades -- and if this man was proposing to be one, then surely that merited some degree of intimacy.

There was also the additional wrinkle that, with the Eye, it was very hard for anyone to lie to him. He wanted Stark to trust him, and if he already knew Stark's secrets, if he could not help but know them, then there was only one way to prove himself trustworthy, and that was to reveal everything.

Stephen tried to tell himself that Stark's smile had nothing to do with it.

Cards on the table, face up. The opposite of a magic trick.

Stephen interrupted him. "If you're interested in me joining the Avengers, Mr. Stark," he said, "I wonder if we might speak of the truth."

Stark was good; he hardly froze for more than an instant. "I'm afraid I don't know what you mean, Captain."

"I know an Asgardian when I see one, sir," he said, meaning to be as kind as he could, but still Stark went pale. "And if you meant for me not to know that you wear the Iron Hammer's breastplate under your shirt, perhaps you should have worked a better illusion. Sir."

Stark sat back down, heavily. He reached not for his coffee but for the flask in his jacket. The room was honey-sweet with mead when he opened it. He didn't offer Stephen any.

Which was fair; Stephen wouldn't have drunk it. He'd stopped drinking when he'd found Kamar-Taj. He'd spent his younger days in a stupor, trying to quell the terror of the demons sent by one of his greatest enemies, Baron Mordo--

No. That wasn't right. He'd never been to Kamar-Taj. Had he? And there was no one named Mordo. Not in this world.

He shook his head to clear it.

He wondered if he should apologize. He hadn't meant to frighten him. But, then, it was ridiculous for someone like Stark to fear someone like him. Stark could crush him with a spell. With a word.

Stark coughed as he capped the flask. "You're very polite for a man accusing me of-- accusing me of--" His voice rasped. And then he sighed. "All right. I suppose I am."

"I thought I should be polite to a god, Mr. Stark," Stephen said, although as he said it he realized that was precisely what Stark didn't have: the spark of the divine.

Stark shook his head. "You're a little too late for that, Captain." His mouth twitched. "I am mortal now. I gave it up." He folded his hand into his fist, rapped the chestplate that neither of them could see. "The armor keeps my poisoned wound from killing me. So if you've come to ask a boon of a god, you'll need to ask elsewhere."

"No," Stephen said. "I wanted to do you a favor."

His lips parted, Stark blinked at him in astonishment; he seemed unaccustomed to that emotion as well. "A favor?"

Stephen pulled the Eye of Agamodin over his head. "This is your father's," he said. "And the Vishanti's."

The plucked-out Eye gleamed, a grotesque organ set within emerald and gold. Stark took it in his hands, ran his fingers over it. Stephen watched the magic within it twine to meet Stark, to join him. They were kin.

"Hmm," Stark said. "So it is."

"And I wondered," Stephen added, "if you might like the truth."

"The truth?"

He had looked as soon as Stark had stepped into the room, the same way he had looked at himself and seen the two men, the magician and the soldier. He had seen in Stark the golden god, yes, but there had been another man too -- as dark-haired as the god was fair, a brilliant engineer, an inventor, a mortal man who could shape a world with his genius alone. The smile, the glance of interest he had given Stephen had belonged to that man.

Stephen nodded. "Surely you have suspected. In this world we are not as we should be. Each of us is one person who should have been two. All of us."

Stark was smiling at him, a small, secret smile, as if he could tease apart who Stephen was with unaided sight. "And who were you, then?"

He didn't know which of his selves to name first. "The Sentinel of Liberty. The Sorcerer Supreme."

"Well," Stark said, with another smile, "that doesn't sound half-bad." His mouth went crooked. "Here's to truth, Captain."

He cupped the Eye between his hands and raised it; green light shone across his face.

And then the smile fell away from his face entirely.

What could be wrong? Stephen had looked at Stark himself -- it wasn't anything bad, and certainly nothing as terrible as should have merited the utter dejection on Stark's face as he lowered the Eye. The man was two great heroes melded together. Surely he should have been proud.

Stephen was halfway out of his seat, leaning over, feeling the hardness of the glamoured chestplate under his fingers as he touched Stark's shoulder. "Stark? What's the matter?"

"Nothing," Stark said hastily, as the Eye sagged out of his hands and into his lap. "It's only... a disappointment, I suppose."

Stark's eyes had gone gray-blue in the light. Like rainclouds.

"A disappointment?"

Stark bit his lip. "To find that half of yourself is a god and the other half is anything but."

Was he insane? How had he looked at himself -- in the Eye, no less -- and found himself wanting?

"That's not what I saw in you," Stephen said. "Not at all."

Stephen realized that he was still crouched here, his hand still on Stark's shoulder, his thumb against the side of Stark's neck where the chestplate gave way to flesh. Stark's pulse pounded, too fast. _Tachycardia_ , his mind said, absently, and _I bet I could do something about that damn poison_ and then _I wonder if he'd let me kiss him_.

He glanced down at the Eye and snapped the fingers of his free hand.

The world exploded into green light, showing a vision of the Avengers not as they were now, but as Stephen had seen them: Thor. Iron Man. Captain America. In the world that should have existed, they stood side-by-side as heroes. He held his shield -- a physical shield -- high in his hands, as the three fought, as they emerged victorious. Thor swung his hammer; Iron Man's repulsors glowed bright. When the battle had been won, when Stephen -- no, no, he was Steve -- lowered his shield, he grinned and threw his arm over Iron Man's shoulders, with a look of adoration in his gaze.

The illusion faded.

Stark's tongue flicked out, wetted his lips. "Seems like you liked what you saw."

"Seems like I did," Stephen returned.

Their faces were very close.

The smile on Stark's face was almost nervous now. "So," he murmured. "Is that a yes to the Avengers?"

Stephen took a deep breath. It had been a long time since he'd made a pass at another man; he didn't know if the rules had changed since the forties.

"That's a yes," Stephen said. "And it-- could be a yes to something else, if you wanted."

Stark froze in his grasp, his eyes wide. He was a clever one. Stephen liked them clever; he always had.

"Could it, now?" Stark asked. His voice was careful, but his eyes were sparkling, giving the game away. He'd already decided.

Stephen nodded. "I was wondering if you'd let me take a look at that leg of yours."

Stark squinted. "You're a doctor?"

_Yes_ , half of Stephen's soul said.

"Nope," Stephen said, and he felt himself smiling wide enough to hurt his cheeks. "Was just hoping to get a good look at you naked."

It wasn't his best line, but, then, back in the war, Stephen had never really needed to be suave to find company.

Stark laughed and surged up out of his seat to pull him down. Their lips met, and Stephen's fingers tangled in Stark's braids.

"Okay," Stark said, his mouth curving in a devilish grin, "but do I get to find out what you're wearing under those robes, soldier?"

Stephen laughed. "Oh, that's easy. Absolutely nothing."

Stark grinned up at him and kissed him again, harder.

And maybe this wasn't who they were supposed to be, but for right now, it was enough.

**Author's Note:**

> If you're still using Tumblr, I've got a [Tumblr post](http://sineala.tumblr.com/post/181392311929/fic-know-thyself).


End file.
